Bangkok Design Festival, first held in 2007, celebrates the Thai and international design and creative fields. For BDF 2017, the idea of a ‘Creative Map’ has been selected as the concept and focuses upon the creative power of the city while expanding to many spots alongside the city’s contemporary context and digital culture.
Many of the succeeding creative spaces didn’t blossom only in Charoenkrung but also other areas of Bangkok. They come in different shapes and forms as well, from cafés to co-working spaces and galleries, all the way to community malls that market creativity as one of their attractions. Spaces like ‘ChangChui’ founded by a veteran from the fashion and design industry were conceived from a desire to fulfill the market’s demand to be ‘creative,’ judging from the elements of the space’s programs curated to correspond with the tastes and preferences of the creative crowd.
The ways in which these creative spaces are conceived can be categorized into two patterns. The first is the newly born ones such as the co-working spaces that try to put together an eclectic program whether it’s a gallery with a café in one of its corners that is friendly to not only patrons but also their laptops and mobile offices. Vice versa, it’s now common to see a coffee house fully equipped with desks and comfy chairs, free-wifi and electrical outlets for customers dedicating one of the walls to works of art or hosting a little art exhibition from time to time. Another type of space such as galleries, which deal mainly with artistic and creative activities, can be found all over the city. But even before ‘creativity’ actually meant what it does today, these spaces were never perceived as ‘creative spaces,’ especially from the general public’s point of view. Even the regular crowds who are frequent gallery goers or work in the gallery business have never actually called them by this moniker.
The following 3 venues held the 3 concepts for BDF this year ;
From a 40-year-old printing equipment storage warehouse to a brand new downtown gallery, this space is an assemblage of creativity that inspires design energy through its surroundings of Bangkok’s city context where canals serve as a major vein for ancient living and the environment itself makes the city feel more creative for everyone. Yelp house will be held Selection Market, the market for art lovers, crowded with works selected by artists themselves, this space represents both ideas and identities, communicated through various kinds of mediums that open a new world for the audience.
A new art and idea landmark of Bangkok that welcomes every kind of creative work, this place aims to serve as a center connecting the people’s creativity via a well-functioning space. Taste Makers, the highlight of the 2017 BDF, invite you to try the new experience of talk show, an opportunity that challenges one to use all their five senses following the speakers’ invitations. Besides vision and audition, the olfactory sense and taste also play a role in bringing you a story that covers all dimensions – from art and culture to identity, politics and religion.
Photo Courtesy of Acmen Akamai Complex
This former school housing BDF is where designers and artists are welcomed to create the Freeform Festival under the concept of celebrating mistakes. The opportunity and space intends to serve as a place for exchanging knowledge and experiences between both the big humans and the small ones – an urban family space. BDF, alongside both governmental and private organizations, invite designers and artists from various fields to create a space for townsfolk. Release your energy! No ego, no stress.
BDF2017 would like to introduce you to the Syvil, the official platform for iPhone application, firstly in Thailand and Asia. This application will make your artistic lifestyle easier in your hand. For the BDF2017, Syvil is the centre of the information with the real-time notification, news providing, also acting like the restaurant hunter to facilitate you during visiting the festival. Free download for iPhone at app store : https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/syvil/id1222487709